Is the gaydar a myth or something that truly exists?

[socurious]

It's kinda hard to explain how a lot of us can tell a guy is gay even when you don't know anything about the person. It happens to me all the time. Probably 95 out of 100 times I'm right. Thoughts?

[+ poolboy48220]

Sometimes it's a shared look, a feeling that "I've got the same secret that you do". I wonder if gaydar will peter out as being gay becomes less and less a thing to hide.

 

When I first came out, I visited Minneapolis and wondered if my gaydar was defective, it seemed like SO many guys were setting it off. Turned out I was staying in the gayborhood.

[The_Impeccable_G]

My gaydar is quite reliable. Generally it works. It did not work with some macho ultra straight looking guys and it also did not work with some effeminate young guys who were straight.

[+ Pensant]

I’d say it works reasonably well, although I wouldn’t want to push my luck!

[+ Lucky]

Gaydar is real. You don't need any interaction with the other person. I get my answers in about one second and am rarely wrong.

[caramelsub]

My gaydar is pretty unreliable. Many times I think a guy is gay at first meet, then I find out he has a wife or girlfriend and kids. It has happened so many times.

[GeoMitch]

IMHO, I think Gaydar is a result of trying to find signs in others that they are like us. Straight people generally don't have it because they assume everyone is straight. Gays, on the other hand, are more open to others being Gay like themselves and maybe even unconsciously look for characteristically gay movements, behaviors, tones of voice, eye movements, and other clues. Notice that many Gay men don't have Gaydar when it comes to lesbians (except, of course, for the Ellen DeGeneres type - which is a dead giveaway - and straights can pick those out too), because in general, our attention is searching for others that are Gay men, "like us."

[socurious]

With the effeminate guys it can be too obvious. So I'm not truly referring to those but more like your conventional "straight-acting" (I hate having to use this term) folks. In my case many times I can just tell they are gay. It's something unnatural. I can also tell if other people know I am gay without me disclosing it.

[Daverwr]

My father picks out gays perfectly. He simply says every guy is gay. Of course, he has a very low success rate in the straight category.

[+ Charlie]

My gaydar was pretty good even in my late teens, when I detected that a few kids I knew were going to be gay even though they didn't know it yet. But it works best when most of the guys around me are straight. I think it has something to do with sensitivity to slight differences from the norm.

[+ Lucky]

It's telepathy! Actually, after watching (part of) this video, I was wrong a couple of times. Take a look and guess which one of the twins (pictured on right) is gay:

[+ WilliamM]

My gaydar is good when it really counts. I remember a cute neighbor who had only male visitors. We knew each other.I was sure he was not gay, but he might have been bi.

 

He was married to women before we met and after we lost contact. But, he was single for the 12 years we were friends.

[RM]

Mine only works in gay bars.

[RealAvalon]

My kids have better gaydar than I do

[Spursy]

Mine tends to be a little overinclusive. Wishful thinking, I suspect.

[Rudynate]

Hardly think about it. Here in San Francisci, there's no need to read people, so the skill becomes dormant. I spend a lot of time in the South Bay, which is much straighter environment and I still don't think much about it. The south bay drives me crazy because there are good lookin' Latin men everywhere you look.

[The_Impeccable_G]

With the effeminate guys it can be too obvious.

Actually, the "effeminate" guys confused me. The young generation, a bit shy, ultra polite well mannered and polished, with perfect grooming, some with light make up, some with heavy make up and straight.

[xyz48B]

Gaydar may be good at reading gay guys who send off a particular set of vibes, but the real question for me is whether it can pick up, with 95% accuracy, all gay guys. How many gay guys go under the gaydar because they don’t put off the vibes?

 

If gaydar is 95% accurate in the cases that put off vibes, but say only 75% of gay guys put off vibes (being generous here), that means out of 100 gay guys, you’d only identify 70ish%.

[The_Impeccable_G]

Gaydar may be good at reading gay guys who send off a particular set of vibes, but the real question for me is whether it can pick up, with 95% accuracy, all gay guys. How many gay guys go under the gaydar because they don’t put off the vibes?

 

If gaydar is 95% accurate in the cases that put off vibes, but say only 75% of gay guys put off vibes (being generous here), that means out of 100 gay guys, you’d only identify 70ish%.

So 70% is not enough for you? You are such a hot stud that you need 100% of the gay population to satisfy tour needs? Oh pls give us a break...

[xyz48B]

So 70% is not enough for you? You are such a hot stud that you need 100% of the gay population to satisfy tour needs? Oh pls give us a break...

You totally misread my entire post.

[The_Impeccable_G]

You totally misread my entire post.

No.

[johnjohn]

My Gaydar is i would say 95% correct , sometimes it takes a few years for the person to relize it themselves ,

[+ E.T.Bass]

I got it wrong so often, especially with women.

[xyz48B]

No.

You read intent now?

[+ Hoover42]

My friends have always had much better gaydar than me. One friend used to occasionally point to some hot guy and say to me, "See that guy over there? He's definitely gay--he just doesn't know it yet!"

 

Me, I'm totally clueless. Not only cannot I not tell who's gay, but I could never tell when anyone was interested in me; It's probably why I'm so damaged now (just kidding!)